What help can road cyclists give each other, and what counts as cheating?
A · Advanced · The road race · 1 of 5Any rider may hand another food, drink or a spanner. Only team-mates may swap wheels or bikes or wait for one another. Pushing another rider is always forbidden. So is holding on to a vehicle, riding on pavements or cycle paths that are not part of the course and sitting on the top tube to descend.
How it works
- Open to all: "All riders may render each other such minor services as lending or exchanging food, drink, spanners or accessories."
- Team-mates only: lending or exchanging tyres or bicycles, and waiting for a rider who has been dropped or has crashed.
- Pushing: "The pushing of one rider by another shall in all cases be forbidden, on pain of disqualification."
- Vehicles: riders "must not hold onto a vehicle or push off against a vehicle in order to gain a significant advantage".
- Pavements: it is "strictly prohibited to use sidewalks, paths or cycle paths that do not form part of the course".
- Position: "Sitting on the bicycle's top tube" is prohibited. So is resting the forearms on the handlebars, except on time trial extensions.
- Shelter: taking the slipstream of a vehicle is an offence in the table of race incidents.
- Clothes: a rider may hand a rain cape or over-garment to the team car, behind the car of the president of the commissaires' panel.
- Pockets: food and clothing are carried in the pockets on the back of the jersey.
- On a finishing circuit: riders may help one another only if they have covered the same distance.
The glossary has the domestique, draft, the peloton and the neutral service entry.
Tricky cases
Can a rider give their bike to a team leader who has punctured?
Yes. Exchanging bicycles is allowed between riders of the same team.
Can a rider from another team give a wheel to a friend?
No. Lending or exchanging tyres or bicycles is permitted only among riders of the same team. Food, drink and small accessories can be shared with anyone.
A rider takes a bottle from the team car and holds on to it for several seconds while the car accelerates. Is that allowed?
No. The table of race incidents lists irregular feeding of that kind, known as a sticky bottle. It also lists holding on to a vehicle.
Can a rider hop on to the cycle path to get round a crash?
It depends on the consequences. Using paths outside the course is prohibited, and the rider is sanctioned if it creates danger or gains a significant advantage.
Why the rule exists
Help between team-mates is the heart of road racing, and the rules protect it. What they stop is help that is not rider against rider: a hand from an engine, a shove or a short cut along a pavement that puts spectators at risk.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Road races | Team-mates may share equipment and wait | UCI 2.3.012 |
| Individual time trials | "Riders may not help one another" | UCI 2.4.020 |
| Team time trials | Team-mates may share equipment but may not push one another | UCI 2.5.018; UCI 2.5.019 |
From the rule book
Union Cycliste Internationale, Cycling Regulations, Part 2: Road Races (2026 edition, amendments to 1 July 2026), articles 2.2.025, 2.2.025 bis, 2.3.012 to 2.3.014 and the table of race incidents in article 2.12.007 (items 4.3, 4.6, 4.7 and 4.11). Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: UCI Cycling Regulations, Part 2 (PDF).